This invention relates to floor treating machines and is an improvement in or modification of the invention forming the subject-matter of U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,361 dated April 27, 1976, hereinafter referred to as the prior patent.
The prior patent describes and claims a floor treating machine having laterally spaced drive wheels driven by separate electric traction motors under electronic control so as to be driven by separate trains of pulses, comprising means for recording the train of pulses to the traction motors, and means for replaying the record to reproduce the trains of pulses whereby the machine will repeat the operation.
The prior patent further describes and claims course correction devices comprising an overriding control means controlled by detectors for the presence of a wall or other obstructions in or adjacent the path of the machine, and further detectors differentiating between scrubbed and unscrubbed floor areas.
These devices are believed sufficient to ensure accuracy in negotiating complex parts of the course but it is now felt that greater accuracy may be necessary in dealing with long straight runs, since conditions may vary sufficiently for the same train of pulses not to bring the machine over the same distance on two different occasions.